CHAPTER 5 GROUP DYNAMICS AND TEAM BUILDING

Objectives:
At the end of the chapter, the students are expected to:
1. familiarize with the concepts of group dynamics and team building
2. state the different team development stages and tasks
3. identify the types of groups
4. determine the techniques for managing group dynamics

Introduction
The term “group dynamics” refers to the interactions between people who are talking together in a
group setting. Group dynamics can be studied in business settings, in volunteer settings, in classroom
settings, and in social settings. Any time that there are three or more individuals interacting or talking
together, there is a group dynamics. A great deal can be learned by observation. If one sits back quietly in
a group ― any group ― one will begin to see certain behavioral patterns emerge. There will be at least one
person who tends to take the lead in conversation, offering his or her thoughts and opinions freely. There
will be at least one person who remains quiet, sometimes not even appearing interested in the conversation.
There may be someone who tends to interrupt other people, someone who wants the conversation to move
along faster, or who wants to focus on a different subject. Another person may be concerned about peoples’
feelings and may try to make everyone feel equally welcome. These are only a few of the roles that people
assume without even thinking about it when they are in a group setting.
What is a team? It is a group that has a job to do, whether as paid participants or as volunteers. It
is a group that has spent some time together, whether in smaller increments over a long period of time, or
by spending a weekend or more working together on something. It is a group that achieves cohesiveness; a
team’s strength is found in the relationships among the team members. It is a group with a common
objective, whose members are very clear about working toward one purpose. It is a group whose members
are interdependent. Whereas other groups may recognize the strengths of each member, team members rely
on the strengths of each member to accomplish the objective. An ideal team has a number of distinct
characteristics, and they fall into three areas: their feedback and communication behaviors, their behavior
and conduct courtesies, and their ways of approaching tasks and problems.

Team Development
Teams and groups are living organisms with certain predictable stages of development. One
characterization of the progression of team development has been depicted by a series of steps in a diagram.
One axis represents success with tasks that are more and more complicated, and the other represents the
amount of time and effort that the group has invested in becoming a team. The graph looks like this:
 Tuckman’s Five-Stage Theory of Group Development

1. Forming - is the initial stage of development, when team members may often have differing ideas
about purpose. There is relatively little trust. People tend to be careful about what they say, and
how they say it. Everyone is on his or her “best behavior.”

2. Storming - represents the arguing that will likely occur as the team defines itself. There may be
conflict about the purpose, leadership, and working procedures. During this stage people often feel
the team will never “come together.” This stage is similar to the human developmental stage of
adolescence.

3. Norming - is the stage that occurs when the team members are developing a shared vision and are
setting goals and objectives. People are getting to know one another’s strengths and are learning
how best to work together. The team experiences more stability and productivity.
 4. Performing - indicates that the members now have a clear, shared sense of purpose, high trust, and
open communication. The team is effective within the existing paradigm. Camaraderie,
relationships, and team spirit are high.

5. Transforming - occurs when the team is at such an effective level of functioning that it can redefine
its shared purpose and respond quickly to change. The leadership within the team is shared, trust is
high, and communication is open.

Team Stages Tasks

Storming:
• Attempts are made to gain influence.
• Sub-groups may form.
• Judging is going on.
• Some avoidance to do tasks.
• Issues are questioned as to their relevance.
• Members decide on their power and with whom they will align.
• Leader is supportive and encourages honesty on issues.
• Priority of issues may be challenged openly.
• Individual achievement is discussed.

Norming:
• Members begin to disagree with leader.
• Members are more relaxed.
• Less challenge on issues of priority.
• Group looks to task accomplishments.
• Group compares their results to other organizational groups.
• Members may lead a discussion.
• Leader delegates and surfaces positive/negative issues openly.

Performing:
• Roles are clear.
• Responsibilities are discussed and outcomes, both positive and negative, are reviewed, not challenged.
• Creative problem solving occurs.
• Collaboration with others is important.
• Leaders challenge group to think more strategically and may question assumptions.
TYPES OF GROUPS
1. Primary Group - described by Charles Cooley as those characterized by intimate face-to-face association
and cooperation. They are primary in several senses, but chiefly in that they are fundamentally in forming
the social nature and ideas of the individual. The result of intimate association, psychologically, is a certain
fusion of individualities in a common whole, so that one‘s very self, for many purposes at least, is the
common life and purpose of the group. Perhaps the simplest way of describing this wholeness is by saying
that it is a “we”; it involves the sort of sympathy and mutual identification for which ―we‖ is the natural
expression. One lives in the feeling of the whole and finds the chief of his will in that feeling.
2. Secondary Group - those which do not necessarily involve face-to-face association or intimate and
personal relations. The members are aware of these relationships and take cognizance of them, but they do
not feel that their lives are bound up in them except in time of social crisis. The members may be separated
from one another by distance or by lack of personal physical contact. Their contact may be through
correspondences, the press, the radio, the telephone or other means.

TECHNIQUES IN MANAGING GROUP DYNAMICS

There are many techniques to assist the facilitator in managing the agenda and group dynamics. The
following are just a few of the most common and frequently used techniques available to the facilitator. Be
creative and adaptive. Different situations require different techniques. With experience, one will have an
understanding of how they affect group dynamics and when is the best time to use them.

1. Equalizing Participation

The facilitator is responsible for the fair distribution of attention during meetings. Facilitators call the
attention of the group to one speaker at a time. The grammar school method is the most common technique
for choosing the next speaker. The facilitator recognizes each person in the order in which hands are raised.
Often, inequities occur because the attention is dominated by an individual or class of individuals. This can
occur because of socialized behavioral problems such as racism, sexism, or the like, or internal dynamics
such as experience, seniority, fear, shyness, disrespect, ignorance of the process, etc. Inequities can be
corrected in many creative ways. For example, if men are speaking more often than women, the facilitator
can suggest a pause after each speaker, the women counting to five before speaking, the men counting to
ten. In controversial situations, the facilitator can request that three speakers speak for the proposal, and
three speak against it. If the group would like to avoid having the facilitator select who speaks next, the
group can self-select by asking the last speaker to pass an object, a talking stick, to the next. Even more
challenging, have each speaker stand before speaking, and begin when there is only one person standing.
These are only a handful of the many possible problems and solutions that exist. Be creative. Invent your
own.

2. Listing

To help the discussion flow more smoothly, those who want to speak can silently signal the facilitator,
who would add the person's name to a list of those wishing to speak, and call on them in that order.
 3. Stacking

If many people want to speak at the same time, it is useful to ask all those who would like to speak to
raise their hands. Have them count off, and then have them speak in that order. At the end of the stack, the
facilitator might call for another stack or try another technique.

4. Pacing

The pace or flow of the meeting is the responsibility of the facilitator. If the atmosphere starts to become
tense, choose techniques which encourage balance and cooperation. If the meeting is going slowly and
people are becoming restless, suggest a stretch or rearrange the agenda.

5. Checking the Process

If the flow of the meeting is breaking down or if one person or small group seems to be dominating,
anyone can call into question the technique being used and suggest an alternative.

6. Silence
If the pace is too fast, if energies and tensions are high, if people are speaking out of turn or interrupting
one another, it is appropriate for anyone to suggest a moment of silence to calm and refocus energy.

7. Taking a Break

In the heat of discussion, people are usually resistant to interrupting the flow to take a break, but a wise
facilitator knows, more often than not, that a five-minute break will save a frustrating half hour or more of
circular discussion and fruitless debate.

8. Group Discussion Techniques

It is often assumed that the best form of group discussion is that which has one person at a time speak
to the whole group. This is true for some discussions. But, sometimes, other techniques of group discussion
can be more productive and efficient than whole group discussion. The following are some of the more
common and frequently used techniques. These could be suggested by anyone at the meeting. Therefore, it
is a good idea if everyone is familiar with these techniques. Again, be creative and adaptive. Different
situations require different techniques. Only experience reveals how each one affects group dynamics or
the best time to use it.

9. Identification

It is good to address each other by name. One way to learn names is to draw a seating plan, and as
people go around and introduce themselves, write their names on it. Later, refer to the plan and address
people by their names. In large groups, name tags can be helpful. Also, when people speak, it is useful for
them to identify themselves so all can gradually learn each others' names.
 10. Whole Group

The value of whole group discussion is the evolution of a group idea. A group idea is not simply the
sum of individual ideas, but the result of the interaction of ideas during discussion. Whole group discussion
can be unstructured and productive. It can also be very structured, using various facilitation techniques to
focus it. Often, whole group discussion does not produce maximum participation or a diversity of ideas.
During whole group discussion, fewer people get to speak, and, at times, the attitude of the group can be
dominated by an idea, a mood, or a handful of people.

11. Small Group

Breaking into smaller groups can be very useful. These small groups can be diads or triads or even
larger. They can be selected randomly or self-selected. If used well, in a relatively short amount of time all
participants have the opportunity to share their own point of view. Be sure to set clear time limits and select
a note taker for each group. When the larger group reconvenes, the note takers relate the major points and
concerns of their group. Sometimes, note takers can be requested to add only new ideas or concerns and
not repeat something already covered in another report. It is also helpful for the scribe to write these reports
so all can see the cumulative result and be sure every idea and concern gets on the list.

12. Brainstorming

This is a very useful technique when ideas need to be solicited from the whole group. The normal rule
of waiting to speak until the facilitator recognizes you is suspended and everyone is encouraged to call out
ideas to be written by the scribe for all to see. It is helpful if the atmosphere created is one in which all
ideas, no matter how unusual or incomplete, are appropriate and welcomed. This is a situation in which
suggestions can be used as catalysts, with ideas building one upon the next, generating very creative
possibilities. Avoid evaluating each other's ideas during this time.

13. Go-rounds

This is a simple technique that encourages participation. The facilitator states a question and then goes
around the room inviting everyone to answer briefly. This is not an open discussion. This is an opportunity
to individually respond to specific questions, not to comment on each other's responses or make unrelated
remarks.

14. Fishbowl

The fishbowl is a special form of small group discussion. Several members representing differing points
of view meet in an inner circle to discuss the issue while everyone else forms an outer circle and listens. At
the end of a predetermined time, the whole group reconvenes and evaluates the fishbowl discussion. An
interesting variation: first, put all the men in the fishbowl, then all the women, and they discuss the same
topics.
 15. Active Listening

If the group is having a hard time understanding a point of view, someone might help by active listening.
Listen to the speaker, then repeat back what was heard and ask the speaker if this accurately reflects what
was meant.

16. Caucusing

A caucus might be useful to help a multifaceted conflict become clearer by unifying similar perspectives
or defining specific points of departure without the focus of the whole group. It might be that only some
people attend a caucus, or it might be that all are expected to participate in a caucus. The difference between
caucuses and small groups is that caucuses are composed of people with similar viewpoints, whereas small
group discussions are more useful if they are made up of people with diverse viewpoints or even a random
selection of people.

References

http://www.businessfundamentals.com/ TeamBuilding.htm (Broken Squares).